Dr. Elitza Stanoeva (MON Fellow, Oct ‘21 – Jun ‘22) will talk about her research at CAS:

Architects and Heritage Demolition in Late Socialism and After: Politics of History versus Politics of Profession

on 7 April, 2022 (Thursday) at 16:30 h.

Moderated by Dr. Aneta Vassileva.

Abstract:

The project investigates how architects responded to politically dictated demolition of architectural heritage in Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s largest cities, in two periods: late socialism when the relics of the ‘bourgeois-monarchic era’ were still subjected to ‘socialist reconstruction’, and post-1989 transition when socialist landmarks became targets of ‘decommunization’ and ‘visual lustration’. At the focus of my study is a dual politicization of architectural heritage: obliteration triggered by memory politics and expert advocacy for preservation. I analyze the latter through the lens of politics of profession, i.e. as part of a coherent vision of both a harmonious city and the architect’s role in its production. My working hypothesis is that architectural heritage was a stake in architects’ quest for reclaiming expert agency and public relevance before and after 1989, tackled in conjunction with larger professional themes and urban problems: issues of authorship and collegial solidarity; problems of environmental and social deterioration; questions of cultural identity and historical value.